Alternative inputs of a mobile communications device

ABSTRACT

In an implementation, a mobile communications device includes a display device having touchscreen functionality, a keyboard having a plurality of physical keys that include a dedicated key and letter keys arranged according to a QWERTY layout, and one or more modules. The one or more modules are configured to output a user interface on the display device responsive to selection of the dedicated key, the user interface having a plurality of portions that are selectable via the touchscreen functionality to cause input of a respective one of a plurality of emoticons.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 120 as acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,458, filed Mar.30, 2009, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 61/107,945, 61/107,935, and61/107,921, each of which was filed on Oct. 23, 2008, the entiredisclosures of each of the applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communication devices (e.g., wireless phones) have become anintegral part of everyday life. For example, a user traditionally used amobile communications device to place and receive telephone calls whenthe user was away from a fixed communications device, e.g., a house oroffice wired telephone. In some instances, the mobile communicationsdevice became the primary device via which the user communicated withother users as the user became accustomed to the convenience andfunctionality of the device.

Communication techniques that may be employed using a mobilecommunications device have also increased. For example, users weretraditionally limited to telephone calls between mobile communicationsdevices. Advances were then made to provide a variety of othercommunication techniques, e.g., text messaging and email. However,inclusion of these additional communication techniques on mobilecommunications devices having traditional form factors may cause thesedevices to become unwieldy and less suitable for mobile applications.For example, traditional input devices that were employed by thesecommunication techniques may be less suitable when applied bytraditional mobile communications devices.

SUMMARY

Alternative inputs of a mobile communications device are described. Inan implementation, a mobile communications device includes a displaydevice having touchscreen functionality, a keyboard having a pluralityof physical keys that include a dedicated key and letter keys arrangedaccording to a QWERTY layout, and one or more modules. The one or moremodules are configured to output a user interface on the display deviceresponsive to selection of the dedicated key, the user interface havinga plurality of portions that are selectable via the touchscreenfunctionality to cause input of a respective one of a plurality ofemoticons.

In an implementation, a determination is made that a physical letter keyof a keyboard of a mobile communications device has been selected. Ifthe physical letter key has not been selected for a specified amount oftime, a letter is input that corresponds to the physical letter key. Ifthe physical letter key has been selected for a specified amount oftime, an alternative input is displayed that includes the letter on themobile communications device, the display of the alternative input beingselectable to cause input of the alternative input.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different instances in thedescription and the figures may indicate similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation of a mobilecommunications device in accordance with one or more embodiments ofdevices, features, and systems for mobile communications.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example implementation in which the mobilecommunications device of FIG. 1 outputs a user interface configured toleverage functionality of a display device for input of alternativefunctions.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation in which a user interfaceis configured to provide alternative inputs of a plurality of emoticons,the user interface being output in response to interaction with the userinterface of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example implementation in which alternative inputsare displayed on a display device responsive to selection of a physicalkey of the mobile communications device of FIG. 1 that relate to aprimary function of the physical key.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which a user interface is output to displayalternative inputs.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting a procedure in an exampleimplementation in which alternative inputs are output in a userinterface that correspond to a letter of a physical letter key.

FIG. 7 illustrates various components of an example device that can beimplemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobile device toimplement embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobilecommunications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

Users continually desire increased functionality from mobilecommunications devices, e.g., gaming devices, wireless phones, mobilemessaging devices, calendaring devices, and so on. For example, usersmay maintain a calendar, a list of contacts, send and receive textmessages, access the Internet, send and receive email, take pictures,send status message (i.e., status update) of a social network, and soon. However, interaction with this increased functionality inconventional mobile communications devices may be difficult due totraditional form factors that were employed to keep the device“portable”, which traditionally resulted in small keys that weredifficult to use and/or a large form factor that became less and lessportable in order to provide sufficient space for each of the keys of akeyboard.

For example, “QWERTY” keypads on a mobile communications device have alimited amount of space for each of the keys on a standard keyboard,such as keyboard used in a desktop environment to enter Latincharacters. As a result, the size of keys and/or the amount of keysincluded on the device are limited and are typically balanced, e.g., anumber of keys and a desired size of the keys.

Consequently traditional manufacturers of QWERTY mobile communicationsdevices (e.g., wireless phones) may load secondary and tertiaryfunctions on a signification portion of the keys, e.g., a majority ofthe keys. For example, with three functions per key the already smallkeys may include up to three indicia (e.g., legends) on them to describeeach function. Accordingly, loading of the physical keys with secondaryand tertiary functions may make the overall keyboard look complex. Assuch, QWERTY keyboards on traditional mobile communications devices wereoften considered to be targeted for business and not consumer use.Additionally, inclusion of extended functions on each key may make itharder to find a desired key function, e.g., the desired key functionmay be buried in a sea of key functions that are not used as much by theuser.

In one or more implementations, functionality of a physical keyboard(e.g., a QWERTY keyboard) is combined with a display device (e.g., atouchscreen) to offload alternate functions for input (i.e., alternativeinputs) from the physical keypad onto the display device. For example, adedicated hardware key may be used to load a library of secondary andtertiary functions for display on the display device. For instance, akey labeled with a punctuation smiley face “;)” may be used to loadpunctuation marks and/or emoticons. Thus, the physical keyboard may besimplified to include primary functions and secondary functions usedmost often to make these functions easy to access and use from day today, thereby making a keyboard having increased acceptability in theconsumer space.

Additionally, these techniques may be leveraged to increase flexibilityof the mobile communications device to provide special characters (e.g.,as secondary and/or tertiary functions) for specific localization. Forexample, characters may be identified that commonly utilized in aspecific geographic location. Rather than reconfigure the physicalkeyboard, these characters may be output for selection by leveragingtouch screen functionality of the mobile communications device. Furtherdiscussion of leveraging a display device for input of secondary andtertiary functions that are not present on a physical keyboard may befound in relation to FIGS. 2, 3, and 5.

In an implementation, at least one physical key of a keyboard of amobile communications device is configured to be selectable to loadadditional functions for that physical key which may or may not beindicated on the physical key. For example, a user may press and hold akey and have accents associated with that key loaded automatically as anextended set of that physical key. In Spanish, for instance, the tilde“˜” might be used in conjunction with a letter Ñ in the word SEÑIOR. Inorder to load the tilde, a user may press and hold the “N” on the keypadto load an extended set of N's with accents on the display device. Auser may then select from the extended set, e.g., using a touchscreen orother cursor control device. Thus, clutter on the keyboard ofindications of the multiple functions may be reduced yet still make thatfunctionality available to a user. A variety of other examples are alsocontemplated, further discussion of which may be found in relation toFIGS. 4 and 6.

In the following discussion, a variety of example implementations of amobile communications device (e.g., a wireless phone) are described.Additionally, a variety of different functionality that may be employedby the mobile communications device is described for each example, whichmay be implemented in that example as well as in other describedexamples. Accordingly, example implementations are illustrated of a fewof a variety of contemplated implementations. Further, although a mobilecommunications device having one or more modules that are configured toprovide telephonic functionality are described, a variety of othermobile devices are also contemplated, such as personal digitalassistants, mobile music players, dedicated messaging devices, portablegame devices, and so on.

Example Implementations

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example implementation 100 of a mobilecommunications device 102 in accordance with one or more embodiments ofdevices, features, and systems for mobile communications. The mobilecommunications device 102 is operable to assume a plurality ofconfigurations, examples of which include a configuration in which thedevice is “closed” and a configuration illustrated in FIG. 1 in whichthe device is “open.”

The mobile communications device 102 is further illustrated as includinga first housing 104 and a second housing 106 that are connected via aslide 108 such that the first and second housings 104, 106 may move(e.g., slide) in relation to one another. Although sliding is described,it should be readily apparent that a variety of other movementtechniques are also contemplated, e.g., a pivot, a hinge and so on.

The first housing 104 includes a display device 110 that may be used tooutput a variety of data, such as a caller identification (ID),information related to text messages as illustrated, email, multimediamessages, Internet browsing, game play, music, video and so on. In theillustrated implementation, the display device 110 is also configured tofunction as an input device by incorporating touchscreen functionality,e.g., through capacitive, surface acoustic wave, resistive, optical,strain gauge, dispersive signals, acoustic pulse, and other touchscreenfunctionality.

The second housing 106 is illustrated as including a keyboard 112 thatmay be used to provide inputs to the mobile communications device 102.Although the keyboard 112 is illustrated as a QWERTY keyboard, a varietyof other examples are also contemplated, such as a keyboard that followsa traditional telephone keypad layout (e.g., a twelve key numeric padfound on basic telephones), keyboards configured for other languages(e.g., Cyrillic) and so on.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the first and second housings 104, 106of the mobile communications device 102 are approximately squared. Forexample, a plane defined by an outer surface of the display device 114may be parallel to a plane of the first housing 104 that approximates asquare, which may be the same as or different from the plane defined bythe display device 110. In other words, the width and height of theplane taken from the first housing 104 that is parallel to the othersurface of the display device 110 is approximately one-to-one. Likewise,the second housing 106 may be considered square along a plane that isparallel to and/or is the same as an outer surface of the keyboard 112disposed within the second housing 106.

The mobile communications device 102 may assume a “closed configuration”such that the first housing 104 covers the second housing 106 by slidingthe housing together using the slide 108. Consequently, the keyboard 112disposed on the second housing 106 may be covered and made not availableto for interaction by a user of the mobile communications device 102. Inan implementation, telephonic functionality is still available when themobile communications device 102 is in the closed configuration, e.g.,to receive a telephone call.

In the “open” configuration as illustrated in the example implementation100 of FIG. 1, the first housing 104 is moved (e.g., slid) “away” fromthe second housing 106 using the slide 108. In this exampleconfiguration, at least a majority of the keys of the keyboard 112 isexposed such that the exposed keys are available for use to provideinputs. The open configuration results in an extended form factor of themobile communications device 102 as contrasted with the form factor ofthe mobile communications device 102 in the closed configuration. In animplementation, the planes of the first and second housings 104, 106that are used to define the extended form factor are parallel to eachother, although other implementations are also contemplated.

The form factor employed by the mobile communications device 102 may besuitable to support a wide variety of features. For example, thekeyboard 112 is illustrated as supporting a QWERTY configuration. Thisform factor may be particularly convenient to a user to utilize thepreviously described functionality of the mobile communications device102, such as to compose texts, play games, check email, “surf” theInternet, provide status messages for a social network, and so on.

In the mobile communications device 102 of FIG. 1, a portion of the keysof the keyboard 112 are illustrated as sharing multiple functions. Forexample, a numeric keypad may be provided within physical keys of theQWERTY layout as illustrated by the physical keys “w”, “e”, “r”, “s”,“d”, “f”, “z”, “x”, “c”, and “.” as sharing numbers “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”,“5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, “9”, and “0”, respectively. The numbers may beaccessed by pressing the “ALT” key of the keypad 112. A variety of otherexamples are also contemplated, an example of which may be found inrelation to the following figure.

The mobile communications device 102 is also illustrated as including acommunication module 114. The communication module 114 is representativeof functionality of the mobile communications device 102 to communicatevia a network 116. For example, the communication module 114 may includetelephone functionality to make and receive telephone calls. Thecommunication module 114 may also include a variety of otherfunctionality, such as to form short message service (SMS) textmessages, multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages, emails, statusmessages for a social network, and so on. For instance, a user may forma status message for communication via the network 116 to a socialnetwork website. The social network website may then publish the statusmessage to “friends” of the user, e.g., for receipt by the friends via acomputer, respective mobile communications device, and so on. A varietyof other examples are also contemplated, such as blogging, instantmessaging, and so on.

The communication module 114 is further illustrated as including a userinterface module 118 that is representative of functionality of themobile communications device 102 to generate, output, and manage a userinterface 120 on the display device 110. For example, the user interface120 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being configured for SMS text messagingand follows a conversation between a user of the mobile communicationsdevice 102 and another user of another mobile communications device viathe network 116.

As previously described, conventional loading of the physical keys of akeyboard with secondary and tertiary functions may make the overallkeyboard look complex. Additionally, inclusion of indicia of alternativefunctions on each physical key may make it harder to find a desired keyfunction, e.g., the desired key function may be buried in a sea of keyfunctions. Accordingly, the user interface module 118 may separatefunctions 122, such as to make a portion of the functions 122 availablevia physical key inputs 124 and alternate functions available viadisplayed key inputs 126. In this way, the user interface module 118 mayleverage the user interface 120 to provide alternative inputs withoutcluttering the keyboard 112, further discussion of which may be found inrelation to the following figures.

Generally, any of the functions described herein can be implementedusing software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manualprocessing, or a combination of these implementations. The terms“module,” “functionality,” and “logic” as used herein generallyrepresent software, firmware, hardware or a combination of software andfirmware. In the case of a software implementation, the module,functionality, or logic represents instructions (e.g., program code)that perform specified tasks when executed on a computing system formedby one or more computers having one or more processors (e.g., CPU orCPUs). The instructions may be stored in one or more tangible computerreadable memory devices. The features of the alternative inputtechniques described below are platform-independent, meaning that thetechniques may be implemented on a variety of commercial computingplatforms having a variety of processors.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example implementation 200 in which the mobilecommunications device 102 of FIG. 1 outputs a user interface configuredto leverage functionality of the display device for input of alternatefunctions. The keyboard 112 includes a plurality of physical keys whichinclude letter keys arranged according to a QWERTY layout as previouslydescribed.

A subset of the physical keys of the keyboard 112 includes indicia ofboth letters and numbers that may be entered using that key. Forexample, the physical keys “w”, “e”, “r”, “s”, “d”, “f”, “z”, “x”, “c”,and “.” are illustrated as sharing numbers “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”,“7”, “8”, “9”, and “0”, respectively. The numbers may input in a varietyof ways, such as by pressing an ALT key concurrently with one or more ofthe keys in the subset. For example, the number “1” may be input bypressing the ALT key and the “w” key that also has indicia of the number“1” marked thereon. Thus, in this example a user may readily provide aninput of letters or numbers by interacting directly and exclusively withthe keyboard 112.

In the illustrated example, the mobile communications device 102 may beconfigured to “offload” alternative inputs to the display device 110 forinput. For example, a user may select a dedicated physical key 202(illustrated as including a emoticon formed using punctuation marks) tocause a plurality of portions 204 to be displayed in the user interface120 to provide alternative inputs. The alternative inputs in theillustrated example include non-alphanumeric characters such aspunctuation marks and emoticons. Punctuation marks are symbols otherthan letters or number used in written language (e.g., “;”). Emoticonsrepresent facial expressions, such as through the use of punctuationmarks, e.g., “:)”, punctuation marks and letters, e.g., “:p”, withoutpunctuation marks, e.g., “

”, and so on.

The portions 204 are illustrated as buttons in this example that may beselected using touchscreen functionality of the display device. Forinstance, the portions 204 in FIG. 2 include punctuation keys that maybe selected to cause a respective input by pressing a finger against thedisplay device 110, using a stylus, and so on. Although touchscreenfunctionality has been described, a variety of other functionality mayalso be employed to select functions displayed on the display device110, such as a cursor control device.

In the illustrated example, the user interface module 118 leverages thedisplay device 110 to “offload” alternative inputs that includepunctuation marks via respective punctuation keys, example of whichinclude “@” “#,” “$,” “&,” “<,” “>,” “/,” “?,” and “!.” The userinterface 120 also includes a key that as displayed includes an emoticon“

.” In one example, the display of the key in the user interface 120 maybe selected to cause output of the emoticon directly, e.g., by pressingthe display device to use touchscreen functionality. In another example,the key may be selected to access a sub-menu having a plurality ofemoticons, further discussion of which may be found in relation to thefollowing figure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example implementation 300 in which a userinterface is configured to provide alternative inputs of a plurality ofemoticons, the user interface being output in response to interactionwith the user interface 120 of FIG. 2. The user interface 120 in thisexample includes a plurality of portions, each having a respectiveemoticon that is selectable to cause the respective emoticon to beinput. For example, the display of the button 304 having the emoticon “

” is illustrated as providing an input of “

” 306 in a SMS text message.

Although the user interface 120 having portions 304 that are selectableto input emoticons was described as a sub-menu that is accessible viathe punctuation menu of FIG. 2, a wide variety of other examples arealso contemplated. For instance, the physical key 202 having theemoticon may be selected to cause output of the emoticon librarydirectly. In this instance, another physical key may be dedicated topunctuation marks such that selection of this other physical key maycause the illustrated punctuation library of FIG. 2 to be outputdirectly.

Thus, as described in FIGS. 2-3, functionality of physical keys of akeyboard 112 (e.g., a QWERTY keyboard) may be combined with the displaydevice 110 (e.g., a touchscreen) to offload selected secondary andtertiary functions from the keyboard 112 onto the display device 110.Thus, the physical keyboard 112 may be simplified to include primaryfunctions and secondary functions that are used most often to make thesefunctions easy to access and use from day to day. Although a fewexamples of offloaded functions are described, it should be readilyapparent that a variety of different functions may be offloaded withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof, further discussion of whichmay be found in relation to the following figure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example implementation 400 in which alternativeinputs are displayed on a display device responsive to selection of aphysical key of the mobile communications device 102 of FIG. 1 thatrelate to a primary function of the physical key. For example, aphysical key 402 of the keyboard 112 includes indicia indicating aletter “a”. Therefore, the primary function of the physical key 402 isto enter the letter “a” when selected by a user without being selectedin combination with another physical key, e.g., the ALT key.

In an implementation, the user interface module 118 may be configuredsuch that alternative inputs are displayed that relate to a particularphysical key if the physical key is selected for a specified amount oftime. For example, the user may “hold down” the physical key 402 for twoseconds, which may cause the user interface module 118 to displayalternative inputs 404 that relate to the primary function of thephysical key 402 in the user interface 120. In the illustrated instance,the relationship between the primary function and the alternative inputsis that the alternative inputs include a letter that is the primaryfunction, which is shown through different combinations of the letter“a” with symbols that represent accents to be applied to the letter “a”.

In another example, a user may press and hold a key and have accentsassociated with that key loaded automatically as an extended set of thatphysical key. In Spanish, for instance, the tilde “˜” might be used inconjunction with a letter Ñ in the word “SEÑIOR.” In order to load thetilde, a user may press and hold the “N” on the keypad to load anextended set of N's with accents on the display device 110. A user maythen select from the extended set, e.g., using a touchscreen or othercursor control device. Thus, clutter on the keyboard 112 of indicationsof the multiple functions may be reduced yet still make thatfunctionality available to a user. A variety of other examples are alsocontemplated, further discussion of which may be found in relation toFIG. 6.

Example Procedures

The following discussion describes alternative input techniques that maybe implemented utilizing the previously described systems and devices.Aspects of each of the procedures may be implemented in hardware,firmware, or software, or a combination thereof. The procedures areshown as a set of blocks that specify operations performed by one ormore devices and are not necessarily limited to the orders shown forperforming the operations by the respective blocks. In portions of thefollowing discussion, reference will be made to the environment 100 ofFIG. 1 and the implementations 200, 300, 400 of FIGS. 2-4, respectively.

FIG. 5 depicts a procedure 500 in an example implementation in which auser interface is output to display alternative inputs. An input isreceived that is caused by selecting a particular one of a plurality ofphysical keys of a mobile communications device (block 502).

Responsive to the receiving, a user interface is output on a displaydevice of the mobile communication device having touchscreenfunctionality (block 504). The user interface includes a plurality ofpunctuation keys, each being selectable via the touchscreenfunctionality to cause input of a respective one of a plurality ofpunctuation marks. At least one key is displayed in the user interfaceand is selectable via the touchscreen functionality to cause a pluralityof emoticon keys to be output in the user interface. Each of theemoticon keys are selectable to cause input of a respective one of aplurality of emoticons. As previously described emoticons may beconfigured to convey emotions, such as by mimicking facial expressions.

FIG. 6 depicts a procedure 600 in an example implementation in whichalternative inputs are output in a user interface that correspond to aletter of a physical letter key. A determination is made that a physicalletter key of a keyboard of a mobile communications device has beenselected (block 602). For example, the physical key 402 “a” of FIG. 4may be configured to provide a primary input of a letter “a” andtherefore may be referenced as a physical letter key.

If the physical letter key has not been selected for a specified amountof time a letter is input that corresponds to the physical letter key(block 604), such as a letter “a” for the physical key 402 in theprevious example.

If the physical letter key has not been selected for a specified amountof time, an alternative input is displayed that includes the letter onthe mobile communications device, the display of the alternative inputbeing selectable to input the alternative input (block 606), such as toinclude one or more accents with the letter in the user interface 120. Avariety of other examples are also contemplated.

Example Device

FIG. 7 illustrates various components of an example device 700 that canbe implemented in various embodiments as any type of a mobile device toimplement embodiments of devices, features, and systems for mobilecommunications. For example, device 700 can be implemented as any of themobile communications devices 102 described with reference to respectiveFIGS. 1-4. Device 700 can also be implemented to access a network-basedservice, such as a content service.

Device 700 includes input(s) 702 that may include Internet Protocol (IP)inputs as well as other input devices, such as the keyboard 112 of FIGS.1-17. Device 700 further includes communication interface(s) 704 thatcan be implemented as any one or more of a wireless interface, any typeof network interface, and as any other type of communication interface.A network interface provides a connection between device 700 and acommunication network by which other electronic and computing devicescan communicate data with device 700. A wireless interface enablesdevice 700 to operate as a mobile device for wireless communications.

Device 700 also includes one or more processors 706 (e.g., any ofmicroprocessors, controllers, and the like) which process variouscomputer-executable instructions to control the operation of device 700and to communicate with other electronic devices. Device 700 can beimplemented with computer-readable media 708, such as one or more memorycomponents, examples of which include random access memory (RAM) andnon-volatile memory (e.g., any one or more of a read-only memory (ROM),flash memory, EPROM, EEPROM, etc.).

Computer-readable media 708 provides data storage to store content anddata 710, as well as device applications and any other types ofinformation and/or data related to operational aspects of device 700.For example, an operating system 712 can be maintained as a computerapplication with the computer-readable media 708 and executed onprocessor(s) 706. Device applications can also include a communicationmanager module 714 (which may be used to provide telephonicfunctionality) and a media manager 716.

Device 700 also includes an audio and/or video output 718 that providesaudio and/or video data to an audio rendering and/or display system 720.The audio rendering and/or display system 720 can be implemented asintegrated component(s) of the example device 700, and can include anycomponents that process, display, and/or otherwise render audio, video,and image data. Device 700 can also be implemented to provide a usertactile feedback, such as vibrate and haptics.

The communication manager module 714 is further illustrated as includinga keyboard module 722. The keyboard module 722 is representative offunctionality employ one or more of the techniques previously describedin relation to FIGS. 1-6.

Generally, the blocks may be representative of modules that areconfigured to provide represented functionality. Further, any of thefunctions described herein can be implemented using software, firmware(e.g., fixed logic circuitry), manual processing, or a combination ofthese implementations. The terms “module,” “functionality,” and “logic”as used herein generally represent software, firmware, or a combinationof software and firmware. In the case of a software implementation, themodule, functionality, or logic represents program code that performsspecified tasks when executed on a processor (e.g., CPU or CPUs). Theprogram code can be stored in one or more computer readable memorydevices. The features of the techniques described above areplatform-independent, meaning that the techniques may be implemented ona variety of commercial computing platforms having a variety ofprocessors.

Although the invention has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to the specific features or acts described. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts are disclosed as example forms of implementing theclaimed invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile communications device comprising: adisplay device having touchscreen functionality; a keyboard having aplurality of physical keys that include a dedicated key and letter keysarranged according to a QWERTY layout; and one or more modules that areconfigured to output a user interface on the display device responsiveto selection of the dedicated key and further configured to load alibrary of characters for display on the display device responsive toselection of the dedicated key, the user interface having a plurality ofportions that are selectable via the touchscreen functionality to causeinput of a respective one of a plurality of emoticons from an emoticonlibrary.
 2. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1,wherein the dedicated key is selectable solely for output of the userinterface.
 3. A mobile communications device as described in claim 1,wherein one or more of the plurality of emoticons represents arespective one of a plurality of facial expressions.
 4. A mobilecommunications device as described in claim 1, wherein at least a subsetof the physical keys are selectable to cause output of a letter or anumber when selected concurrently with another one of the physical keys.5. A mobile communications device as described in claim 4, wherein theother one of the physical keys is an ALT key.
 6. A mobile communicationsdevice as described in claim 4, wherein the subset of the physical keysof the keyboard is arranged according to a telephone keypad layout.
 7. Amobile communications device as described in claim 6, wherein each ofthe subset of the physical keys includes indicia of a respective numberand letter for input via the physical key on the physical key.
 8. Amobile communications device as described in claim 6, wherein the inputof the emoticon is included in a message to be communicated via anetwork.
 9. A mobile communications device as described in claim 8,wherein the message is a simple message service (SMS) text message or anemail.
 10. A mobile communications device as described in claim 8,wherein the message is a status message for a social network.
 11. Amobile communications device as described in claim 1, wherein thededicated key includes physical indicia of an emoticon formed using aplurality of punctuation marks.
 12. A mobile communications device asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the letter keys are not selectable singlyor in combination with one or more other said physical keys to providemore than two inputs.
 13. A mobile communications device as described inclaim 1, wherein at least one said emoticon is displayed in the userinterface without using a punctuation mark.
 14. A method comprising:outputting a library of characters for display on a user interface on adisplay device of a mobile communications device responsive to selectionof a dedicated physical key of a keyboard that includes a plurality ofletter keys; and receiving a selection of a portion of the userinterface via touchscreen functionality of the mobile communicationsdevice to cause input of a respective one of a plurality of emoticonsfrom an emoticon library.
 15. A method as described in claim 14, whereinthe dedicated key is selectable solely for output of the user interface.16. A method as described in claim 14, wherein one or more of theplurality of emoticons represents a respective one of a plurality offacial expressions.
 17. A method as described in claim 14, wherein thededicated key includes physical indicia of an emoticon formed using aplurality of punctuation marks.
 18. A method as described in claim 14,wherein at least one said emoticon is displayed in the user interfacewithout using a punctuation mark.
 19. A mobile communications devicecomprising: a display device having touchscreen functionality; akeyboard having a plurality of physical keys that includes: letter keysarranged according to a QWERTY layout; and a dedicated key that isselectable solely to cause output of a library of characters for displayon a user interface on the display device having a plurality of portionsthat are selectable via the touchscreen functionality to cause input ofa respective one of a plurality of emoticons from an emoticon library.20. A mobile communications device as described in claim 19, wherein oneor more of the plurality of emoticons represents a respective one of aplurality of facial expressions.